Evening capital. (Annapolis, Md.) 1884-1910, 1887-09-28
LINcoLNs SPEECH AT GETTYSBURG

Private Notes and Memoranda - The
Speech Not Received with Favor.
A day or two before 10 dedication of
the National cemetery at Nettysburg, Mr.
Lincoln told me that he would be ex
pected to make speech on the occasion;
that he was extremely busy, with no time
for preparation, and that he greatly feared
he would not be able to acquit himself
with credit, much less to fill the measure
of public expectation. From his hat (tho
usual receptacle of his private notes and
memoranda) he drew page of foolscap
closely written, which he read me, first
remarking that it was memorandum of
what he had intended to say 1t proved
to be in substance, and think hRc verba,
what was printed as his Gettysburg
speech.
After its delivery he expressed deep re-
gret that he had not prepared it with
greater care. He said to me on the stand,
Immediately after concluding the speech,
''Lamon, that speech won't scourl 1t is
a fiat failure, and the people are disap-
pointed" He seemed more than orli-
narily concerned about what the people
would think of it. Twas deeply impressed
by his frank and regretful condemnation
of the effort, and especially by his manner
of expressing that regret; and my own
impression was deepened by the fact that
the orator of the day, Mr.. Everett, and
Mr.. Seward both conceded with Mr.. Lin
coin in his unfavorable view of its merits.
On the platform from which Mr.. Lin
coin had made his address, and only a mo-
ment after its conclusion, Mr.. Seward
turned to Mr.. Everett and asked him
what he thought of the presidents speech.
Mr.. Everett replied: 'It was not what l
expected from him. 1 am disappointed"
In his turn Mr.. Everett asked: 'What
do you think Of it, Mr.. SewardY' The
response was: "He has made failure
and am sorry for it. His speech is not
equal to him. Mr.. Seward then turned
to me and asked: ''Mr. Marshal, what do
you think of it?n / answered: 'T am
sorry to say that it does not impress me
as one of his great speeches.
In the face of these facts it has been
repeatedly published that this speech was
received with great eclat by the audience;
that 'amid the tears, sobs and cheers it
produced in the excited throng, the orator
of the day, Mr.. Everett, turned impul-
sively to Mr.. Lincoln, grasped his hand
and exclaimed; i congratulate you on
your successp adding in a transport of
heated enthusiasm: 'Ahl Mr.. President,
how gladly would l give my hundred
pages to be the author of your twenty
lines.'
All this unworthy gush, it is needless
to say, is purely apocryphal. Nothing Of
the kind occurred AS matter of fact.
Mr.. Lincoln's great Gettysburg speech
fell on the vast audience like a wet
blanket. At,that time his reputation was
confessedly on the wane. The politicians
of the country-those of his own party,
together with large part of the press
were casting about for an available candi-
date to be bis successor, while q great
majority of the people were for him.
state it as fact, and without fear of con-
tradiction, that this famous Gettysburg
speech was not received or Commented
upon with anything like hearty favor
by the people, the politicians or the press
of the United States until after the
death Of Its author. It's marvellous per-
fection, its intrinsic excellence as a master
piece Of English composition, seem to have
escaped the scrutiny of the most scholarly
critics and the wisest heads of the day, on
this side of the Atlantic. That discovery
was made, we must regretfully own, by
distinguished writers ON the other side
The London Spectator, The Saturday Re-
view, The Edinburgh Review and other
European journals were the first to dis
cover, or at least to proclaim, the classical
merits of the Gettysburg speech. 1t was
then that we began to realize that it was
indeed masterpiece, and it then dawned
upon many minds that we had entertained
an angel unawares who had left us unap-
preciated II. Lannon's Letter.